Checkmate
by ramenpandaa
Summary: Lelouch never lost. Until it came to her. She was his queen and he was her king, manipulated in a slow, complex, dance, sometimes winning, mostly stalemated. But when he lost, he lost for good. Lelouch/Shirley. Oneshot.


**Author**: ramenpandaa  
**Fandom**: Code Geass  
**Story Title**: "Checkmate"  
**Summary**: _Lelouch never lost. Until it came to her. She was his queen and he was her king, manipulated in a slow, complex, dance, sometimes winning, mostly stalemated. But when he lost, he lost for good. Lelouch/Shirley. Oneshot._  
**Character/Relationships**: Lelouch/Shirley  
**Rating**: T  
**Warnings**: Spoilers for both seasons. Violence, minor bad language, death.  
**Wordcount**: 1,249  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything. All characters, settings, and proprietary language are owned by the author of the work from which this is derived.

**Notes: **This is really, really, really bad. Sorry. T.T And some of it might be inaccurate, as I haven't watched it in a few months. I read some episode summaries and rewatched the major scenes.

**Checkmate**

**001. opening**

Shirley was the first one to fall. It was a chilly October afternoon, and she had been walking down the street, stopping at the scene of a car accident. Everyone was gawking, and the person behind was obviously at fault. Even Shirley could see that. But no one called. Everyone shouted. But no one helped. Scanning the area, Shirley found… Rivalz and Lelouch? They were sitting in Rivalz's motorcar on the opposite side, Lelouch calmly snapping his phone shut. Within minutes the police had arrived and the situation was cleaned up. But as Shirley left, she realized she wanted to know what Lelouch was thinking, what he wanted to do. She wanted to get to know him. She- "You fell in love?" Suzaku's voice cuts in, and Shirley can only nod.

**002. midgame**

Lelouch walked briskly through the rain as strains of Mozart's Lacrimosa floated around him. He sighed and slipped his phone back into his pocket as the call went to voicemail for the third time. "She's probably gone, eh?" he muttered to himself. It was late, and Lelouch was tired after a harrowing battle at Narita earlier in the day. His thoughts turned back to Shirley. Why had she invited him to this concert? He blushed slightly thinking about it, but no, that was impossible. He was just a friend to her, right? Peering through the gloom, Lelouch found Shirley, hunched over under a streetlight, absolutely soaked, her face hidden, her normally beautiful hair limp and ragged-looking. He quickly ran over and held the umbrella over her head.

"Uh… I'm sorry I'm late." he stuttered out. "Is there somewhere we can take shelter form the rain?" The raindrops patter softly around him, foreboding, almost as if they're whispering. _Be careful where you step. Be careful what road you take. Be careful how you attain your goals._

"Say, Lelouch," Shirley begins, her head still down, her voice heavy with pain. "Isn't Zero a friend to the weak?"

"Ano… I think so. That's what he said, anyways." Lelouch manages.

"Then why did he kill my father?" Shirley lifts her head. Lelouch's eyes widen in surprise as the words reach his ears and Shirley's expression reaches his eyes. Her face is a very picture of utter desperation, loss, sadness. "My dad was so kind. He never lifted a hand on me in anger. He never did anything bad. But he was buried alive."

Lelouch can only listen in horror as she continues.

"He suffocated… Why? Why him?" Shirley's voice raises. "I… I don't believe it!"

Her bag drops the ground as she leans towards Lelouch, embracing him.

"Please, Lulu… Help me."

She lifts her head up, gazing deep into his eyes, the eyes of the man she loves, her own eyes pleading and filled with want, and pushes her lips against his.

Lelouch, momentarily stunned, closes his eyes and kisses her back in a moment of fitful passion, emotions smashing themselves inside him.

And for one moment in his terrible, doomed life, Lelouch catches a fleeting glimpse of happiness.

**003. endgame**

Shirley stands outside the train car, gun in hand. _Am I really going to do this?_ The train moves slowly up, stopping as Lelouch and Mystery Man reach her. As their eyes meet, purple colliding with green, Shirley almost puts the gun down. _You have to do this. Even if you love him, the bastard killed you father. He fucking killed your father. _She can see Lelouch saying something. Mystery Man gestures, and they slip out of the car.

Shirley holds the gun shakily up in front of her as Lelouch just looks at her with an undecipherable expression in her eyes.

Mystery Man laughs in the background, saying something about "little circles." Lelouch's face contorts in anger.

"Lelouch, you have to die to atone for your sins." Shirley is surprised to hear her voice, her words. _What am I doing? What am I saying?_

Lelouch's expression changes to hurt, as his right eye transforms.

"Oh ho ho, Lelouch," Mystery Man chuckles mirthlessly. "If you use your Geass on her, I'll shoot you myself."

Lelouch mutters an expletive under his breath, as the three of them enter a twisted, dark dance, Lelouch pleading, Mao cackling, Shirley at the center confused and spinning.

"URUSAI!" She screams, pulling the trigger. The bullet spins past Lelouch, barely grazing him. Even so, he tumbles backwards, photographs spilling out of his breast pocket and scattering the steps.

Shirley stares at the photos in disbelief. These are HER photos, from HER room, for HER eyes only. They are pictures of Lelouch, the boy she loves. The boy who killed her father.

"Oh my," Mao sighs disdainfully. "Her thoughts are a jumbled mess."

The dance begins once again, this time Mao manipulating, Lelouch still pleading. Shirley's thoughts only spin faster and faster, until finally Mao pulls out a gun and aims it at Lelouch.

"This is pointless," he spits. "She won't do it, so I'll have to."

Without thinking, Shirley repositions the gun at Mao and pulls the trigger.

He lowers his gun and grins. "Alright, alright. It's over. Do whatever you want." He steps back onto the train.

Shirley collapses to the steps, weeping. _What have I done?_

Lelouch comes over and hugs her, telling her that everything is his fault, that she doesn't need to worry, that everything will be alright. _Daijoubu. _He will help her forget everything.

Shirley looks up, into his eyes, realizing a split second too late.

"LULU, NO!"

**004. checkmate**

Lelouch runs up the broken escalator, rushing past the empty rooms and hallways of the tower.

He suddenly stops when he sees someone lying on the ground. _That hair… it can't be._

"SHIRLEY!" He screams, as he sees the girl he loves lying in a pool of blood. Her shirt is soaked red, the ring of blood around her just constantly expanding.

She opens her eyes, smiling weakly.

"Lulu… I'm glad I could be with you in the end." Shirley whispers.

"It's not the end! I'll get a doctor right away!" Lelouch almost screams in desperation, his phone already out.

Shirley grasps his arm.

"You know, when I got my memories back, I was so scared.

A fake teacher… Friends with no memories…

Everyone was… lying to me… It was as if… the whole world was watching me…

Lulu, you've been fighting… all by yourself against this world… All by yourself…

So that's why… I wanted to be… the one thing truthful to you…"

"Shirley…"

"I love you, Lulu…

Even when I found out you killed my father… I couldn't bring myself to hate you…

Even when you made me forget everything… I fell in love with you again…

Even when my memories were altered… I fell in love again…"

Lelouch quickly takes the contact off his left eye, his Geass activating. "NO, SHIRLEY! DON'T DIE!"

Shirley continues to speak.

"No matter how many times I'm reborn… I'm sure I'll fall in love with you again."

Her blood pools faster around Lelouch's feet.

"This… is fate, right?"

Tears drip out of Lelouch's eyes as he uses his Geass over and over again. "DON'T DIE! DON'T DIE!"

Shirley continues. "So… it's okay, right, Lulu? That I'll fall in love with you again when I'm reborn…

_No matter how many times, I'll always fall in love with you."_

Her eyes close, and her hand drops.

"No… Shirley… SHIRLEY!" Lelouch begins to scream in frustration, tears falling down his cheeks.

"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

**A/N: **Yea… That was pretty bad. Review anyways, please?


End file.
